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Mr McKee said: "Shrinking mortgage lending sticks out like a sore thumb when you have continued annual house price growth.

“In those areas where the two are headed in different directions, this is likely to be the result of first-time buyers beginning to vote with their feet in the face of steep valuations coupled with smaller budgets thanks to stricter lending criteria.

“If opinions about these stretched valuations are starting to feed through into these borrowing numbers then it’s vital purchasers are even more careful not to end up sitting on unnecessary losses.

“Buyers have to be careful that, with interest rates still temptingly low, they don’t jump in with both feet by borrowing too much in a local market that is possibly braced for a fall.”